The Fame Seeker
by GrayJediMan
Summary: Obi-Wan crashes on a jungle planet of Dxun after a thrilling battle against the Separatists and is 'captured' by a Mandalorian clan that plans on selling him back to the Republic for a hefty ransom. But not everything goes as planned. Set before and during a slightly modified era of the Fall of the Republic (Order 66) Obi-Wan x OC later on
1. The Space Beginning - Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, any of its ideas and character and fictional organizations and events. You know how this works.**

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„Sir, six seperatist cruisers emerged from hyperspace right in front of us and they are arming their guns," the clone informed the admiral.

„Prepare for battle and raise the shields **!** Prepare all our ships to launch. Contact General Skywalker's fleet. I think we'll need all the reinforcements we can get. And please, make sure General Kenobi gets here on the bridge as fast as he can," commanded Admiral Yularen.

„Yes, sir. Right away, sir," nodded the clone after receiving orders and proceeded to make them happen.

„No need for the last part, I am right here, Admiral. And just tell me, if I can be of service," commented Obi-Wan as he walked through the bridge door towards the admiral.

„General Kenobi, this sadly doesn't look anything like good news. It seems like they prepared some sort of ambush for us. They must have found out about the cargo we are holding in the lower deck of our flagship. I fear it is the fleet of the infamous Devaronian commander Kleeve. I already sent General Skywalker a request for help and I hope we can withstand the attact until he arrives with his fleet to assist us."

„I certainly hope so, if only for the sake of our 'cargo'. It can't get back into their dirty separatist hands otherwise millions will be doomed," Obi-Wan said with a concerned look on his face. „But right now we must focus on the matter at hand, we must repell the incoming attack and make sure our shipment is somewhere safe." added the admiral.

„I agree, General Kenobi, but-" Yularen didn't finish the sentence because of a clone: „Sir, we established contact with General Skywalker and he is already on his way here." „but I think we'll do just fine now with Skywalker's forces. I assume you will be taking your fighter squadron for a little flight, maybe with some the help from Master Skywalker?"

„Yes, I think he will be more than eager to test our new freighters – _The Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor_. A new model made just for these 'special' occasions," Obi-Wan told Yularen with a slight chuckle. "I'll get going then, Admiral."

„Good luck, General."

 _The battle was under way as Obi-Wan has assambled his elite fighter squadron down in the hangar. They called themselves White Skies, which was shorter for The White Skies above the Republic. It was quite a long name but they deserved it, they cleared many separatist warships and cruisers from the skies of the Republic-aligned planets. General Kenobi's unit was one of the best in the known space, contaning the best Republic clone pilots and the Master Jedi himself and occasionally the Jedi General Anakin Skywalker._

„Sir, White Skies squadron is prepared to leave at your will," the second-in-command officer notified Obi-Wan.

„Thank you. Pilots get in your shuttles, we're leaving in five," he ordered as he climbed into his own new Delta-7B. „R-4, that means you should get in my ship and start the engine," the Jedi exclaimed. „We'll give those clankers our new medicine," said Obi-Wan to himself with an image of the upcoming battle in his mind. The squadron took off and flew out of the ship's hangar and almost immediately engaged enemy Vulture droids that were assaulting the Republic flagship.

„Remember, boys. Our objective is not to protect the cruiser, it is to cooperate with General Skywalker's fighter squadrons to disable as many Separatist frigates as we can to ensure the safety of our cargo. Is it clear to everyone?" Obi-Wan asked at the end of the briefing.

„Yes sir, White Sky 1 is ready for battle!" said the first of the clone pilots and the others shortly followed his example and declared their readiness to the general.

„Then prepare for some action and follow me," ordered the Master Jedi as he took the lead and flew directly into the fray.

 _In the midst of the battle Obi-wan managed to 'meet' his former Padawan Anakin during a dogfight. After their reunion, the two squadrons took out many Vulture droids as well as whole frigates with relative ease and without having a particulary hard time. But suddenly a small cruiser departed from the Separatist flagship's main hangar with a small unit of Vulter droids and it immediately caught Obi-Wan's eye._

„Anakin, that cruiser right there could be the commander himself. Kleeve must have seen that the ambush failed and the battle is lost. He wants to escape, and we can't let that happen. We need him, and we need him **alive**. We've got a lot of questions to ask him. We have to get him. First we destroy his fighter escort, and then we capture him anyway possible. Ríght now our only option is to board his ship, take control of it and direct it to our own warships and put him into custody there. Do you understand?" Obi-Wan asked Anakin.

„Yes Master, I understand. The only problem is that there's only one airlock. Just one of us can board at a time. And because I'm a better pilot, I better stay where I am right now, defending you from those droids. Without me here our squadron wouldn't propably hold the position around Kleeve's cruiser for long," Anakin explained the reason why he doesn't want to go while flying around like a crazy person trying to avoid enemy fire. „And besides, you are much better in close quarters with a lightsaber. That means, I will let have the honour of capturing that Devaronian Separatist."

„If you insist," said Obi-Wan with a slight sigh as he expertly dodged an incoming homing missile. „But first you need to clear a path for me to the ship. Then I will initiate the boarding and I will make my way to Kleeve to finally capture him. Once I've took control of the ship along with the commander, be ready to retreat back to our flagship. Is it clear, Anakin?"

„Yes, it is. As always, Master," he answered with noticable annoyance in his voice. „And may the Force be with you, Master," he added slightly friendlier.

„And with you too, my friend. During my stay there I won't be able to contact you. After I will take the bridge I will let you know," Obi-Wan told him as he was landing and boarding the cruiser.

 _The airlock opened and the Master Jedi got through it just to walk into a surprise droid party. It was just a few dozens of B1 droids and a couple of B2 superdroids but nothing to really worry about. And that was the easier part. In a moment three droidekas rolled out of nowhere, overwhelming Obi-Wan with a shower of laser bolts. But fortunately he managed to Force-throw some random objects and cargo at them, causing their shield to be neutralized only to be easily cut down by the Jedi. After dispatching them he stuck his lightsaber in the multi-layer blast-proof vacuum-sealed bridge door and it started to melt under the heat of the laser sword. The door crumbled as Obi-Wan cut a hole in it that was large enough for him to go through._

But the bridge was almost completely empty. There was just a holoprojector droid standing in the middle. „I've got a bad feeling about this," said Obi-Wan outloud, and by that he accidentally switched on the holodroid.

„Ah, Master Kenobi. I was expecting you," said Kleeve, who appeared via the holoprojector.

„ _Kleeve_ ," Obi-Wan hissed at the projection of the Separatist commander.

„Yes, that is my name, and the name of my mother was Anklia but that doesn't matter, does it? Anyways, back to my prepared speech," Kleeve coughed twice. „As your Jedi senses must have informed you, I am not there to greet you personally. It is most unfortunate that my forward fleet failed to obtain your 'cargo' but I didn't even really think those idiotic droids would be capable of doing at least one thing properly. And you surely figured out by now that this was a diversion. Republic's best pilots are flying around this cruiser, protecting you in a trap I set up. The trapped Jedi General is just a little bonus. While we are speaking, more and more Separatist frigates, warships and fighters are emerging from hyperspace all around your fleet and quickly destroying it. And for you, Master Kenobi, I have a small surprise. See, I am too proud to use someone else's ideas. I like to be **original** , that means I will try to execute this trap in a very **unique** way. So in a few...," he looks somewhere out of Obi-Wan's view, „...something, I don't know how long this will take but after that this ship's autopilot will activate its hyperdrive. You'll be flying through space like normal, but here's the deal. You are directly facing a planet far, far away and the ship's computer will deactivate the hyperdrive in the atmosphere only a few hundred feet above the ground. And you will hopefully be burnt to a crisp and end up completely obliterated on a side of some godforsaken planet. Isn't that just wonderful? I know it is quite risky to try it on such an important target but I just could't resist doing it," Devaronian added with a full-face grin. „I guess this is goodbye, and I hope we **won't** see each other ever again or I'll be really disapointed with myself. And let me just tell you something, deactivating or destroying the ship computer won't help because the command is already sent. You can't destroy the hyperdrive, the whole thing is outside and unreachable from the ship itself **and** you can't contact your fellow Republicans to destroy it from the outside because all communications are destroyed. And finally, you propably thought of this yourself, but you can't just fly away in your ship, it's already gone. Bye!" he finished his speech and ended the holocall.

During his lenghty monolog Obi-Wan was with some difficulty trying to establish a connection between the cruiser and Anakin's fighter. During his search he somehow managed to stay relatively calm to his own surprise. „I have to find a way to contact someone or I'm as good as dead," he though just to make himself sure that he was up to the difficult task. The communications were absolutely wrecked on the bridge as Kleeve said so he had to go to the engine room, where the equipment wasn't as trashed and where was the highest chance to find something useful. After few moments there, he managed to find some usable parts to modify his personal communicator's frequency to be the same as the cruiser's to contact his friend.

„Anakin, Anakin! Can you hear me?" Obi-Wan almost shouted after he finished working on the device. He was quite exhausted from searching the engine room for all the necessary parts. But it seemed to work, he heard some noises coming from the communicator.

„Mas...ignal i...ot clear. What is happen...n that ship? S...ny ships coming fr...ywhere! We ar...rounded by Separ...ips," the signal became clearer after Obi-Wan slightly adjusted the frequency. „..ost too many, we **need** to retrea...our ships immediately. What i...e situation? ...you have Kleeve? Your docked ship...gone, you have to take the cruiser to esc...," Anakin said before the transmission abruptly ended.

„Damnit!" swore the Jedi Master.

The engines sudenly started to get more and more loud and just before the ship jumped into hyperspace. Obi-Wan realized that the hyperdrive had just been activated.

Obi-Wan flew across the room and smashed into the opposite wall with such force, he immediately lost conciousness.

„That was quick," Anakin was surprised by his master's sudden disappearence. „But he made it out and that's important," Anakin informed the remaining pilots and thanked the Force his master was now safe. „Let's get out of here too, while we still can!" he commanded and the remains of the squadron quickly retreated to the Republic warship while being assaulted by enemy fighters and frigates. Finally they made it into the hangar but excluding General Skywalker only three of the original White Skies unit safely returned.

The moment all of them were on-board, Admiral Yularen immediately gave the order to jump to hyperspace to avoid complete annihilation of the Republic forces.

General Kenobi's fleet was almost completely ruined, only the flagship survived and although it was heavily damaged, it was somehow still flying. General Skywalker's fleet was in a better condition but still nothing radiant. The surviving warships navigated through the hyperspace towards the nearest Republic systems. There they needed to regroup their forces and repair the damaged ships.

In the meantime General Skywalker was trying to find Master Kenobi but he wasn't able to maintain contact for some reason. „What happened to him? And where did he even go?" thought Anakin to himself.

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 **EDIT: I did a small revisit of this chapter, fixed some big 'minor' mistakes and issues, rewrote some passages that now make more sense and are less stupid.**


	2. The Beauty of Dxun - Chapter 2

_Anakin was looking for Obi-Wan everywhere. He tried to find a clue about where he could have went but he found nothing, nothing at all. But he didn't give up. Though his search prolonged to weeks and even months, without any success, he never gave up. But in the end he was looking for him for another reason._

Obi-Wan opened his eyes. He wanted to look around, where he was, what happened. But he couldn't. Every joint, every muscle, every cell was hurting like hell.

„How did I even manage to survive that," the thought crossed his mind as he focused on his injuries to suppress the pain with the Force. „Guess that Devaronian was too innovative for his own good. And thank the Force for that," Obi-Wan said now out lound, still grinning with pain. „But now I really do regret not going to those Force-healing excercises last year lead by Master Luminara as they would come in very handy right about now," Obi-Wan sighed while slowly getting up. With great effort he finally sat up leaning back on some debris.

„I need to fix myself and then get on my way to...," he paused in his monolog," ...somewhere. I have no idea where I am or how do I get to civilization and if this planet is even inhabited. I don't know anything! First of all I need to contact someone from the Republic and quickly!" Obi-Wan started to sound very desperate. „ But it is just as important that I stay calm. Just relax and keep a clear head, everything's gonna be just fine." Obi-Wan took a deep breath and stood up but the act didn't go without pain so great he almost fell back onto the ground. He walked stumbling across the enormous crash-site, chunks of the ship laying everywhere. Not a single thing was still intact and in one-piece, and that made Obi-Wan even more confused as he wasn't to bits himself.

„Maybe I, oddly enough, somehow raised a Force-shield around myself in my unconcious state. The Force is always around the user, not only when he's awake, so it must have been some kind of instict or something similar. Or I was just really lucky, which is always a possibility," he was thinking about his situation he was in and what shall he do next. „I have to think rationally. First I need to take care of my injuries, find shelter and something to eat. If I want to have dinner tonight, I'll have to get farther from this horrid place as I doubt any food supplies survived the crash. It looks like the crash burnt an area at least few kilometres wide to crisp, so I won't find anything here. From here I can't even work out how the original surface of the planet under all the ashes looked like, but I hope somewhere are some animals or plants with which I could relieve my hunger."

Obi-Wan got on his way out of the crater. On his way he grabbed a small piece of fabric mysteriously surviving the crash and fearlessly flailing in the wind. Unfortunately for him it was too small to use as a bandage for bigger wounds, but it would be just enough for smaller ones. Luckily most of his injuries were just bumps and contusions.

It took him more than a few hours before he climbed out of the hellhole. The crater sides were almost too steep for him to conquer due to his hurting legs. When he was finally atop, he got a pleasant surprise. He crash-landed on what seemed to be a jungle world. But still at least another kilometer or two of the tropical forest was badly burned. Closer to the crater only the thickest logs were still mainly intact, nothing else survived the massive wave of heat caused by the crash. He traveled couple of hundred meters before seeing the first living plant. It was just some kind of grass that hid behind a log and avoided the fire directly but it wasn't of any use to Obi-Wan as it was not edible.

As he walked more and more herbs, trees and bushes all around started to be only partially burned or completely fine. He even found some berries growing and he hastily ate them, as it was his first meal after all those long long hours. Gathering some morning dew from the leaves of the surrounding trees allowed him to satisfy the thirst he was dying of since he first wake up. And to deal with his injuries, he wrapped the small piece of fabric he kept around his bloody wrist and with the help of some thin flexible roots he tied it firmly. Then he lay down behind a log with his head resting on a pillow of leaves and moss and quickly fell asleep.

He wake up to the growling sound made by his stomach. He had very little food before he went to sleep and the over 10 hours long sleep made him very hungry again. He slowly got up, rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms and legs to find them surprisingly fine. Then he got on his way towards the jungle to find something to satisfy his needs. As he progressed farther little by little the greenery started to get denser and denser thus making it more difficult for him to pass through. He slowly made his way into the forest picking some red berries here, yellow and orange fruit there and he even found a small puddle of rain-water, from which he drank heavily.

The trees were getting taller, more grass was growing everywhere, bushes were getting denser, and Obi-Wan suddenly found himself unable to recall in which direction he intended to go as the jungle was everywhere almost identical. „Damnit, I won't get any further through here or I'll get lost, I need to go back in my tracks," he turned around and tried to backtrack and after long minutes he finally found his way out of the tropical rainforest.

„The jungle is like a maze," Obi-Wan sighed and rubbed his head. „It is of no use, I won't get through here by myself. I need to find a path through the forest or a clearing that I could use as a passage or someone who could guide me," he thought to himself and backed away. „Right now I should propably set up a 'base of operations', from which I will scan the forest for ways through and keep a lookout in case somebody was attracted here by the planet-shaking crash (very likely).

Then Obi-Wan began to collected logs and branches and leaves for a simple shelter and built it with two sides being some debris from the crashed starship. It was handy to have some protection against potential rain and it also had at least some thermal isolation so he wouldn't be that cold at night. Then he went on a 'hunt' for ship supplies in areas he hadn't been to already. But because the shelter-building took him quite a few hours, it was already slowly getting dark so he hurried with his search for reserves. He found some useless broken gears, engine parts and even a droid head but also what seemed to be a piece of fabric from the Jedi's dark brown robe. Obi-Wan quickly grabbed it and made his way back to the 'base' allong with the little he found. He postponed other searches for tommorow and carefully got in his hand-made shelter, ate the remains of fruit he had left over and quickly fell asleep after a hard-working day.

A light rumbling sound somewhere outside of his shelter suddenly woke him up. His senses were telling him it was nothing but trouble lurking through the wreckage this early in the morning. He still decided to investigate the suspicious sound and try not to attract unwanted attention to himself. He snuck out and quietly hid behind a piece of debris so he would be barely visible to whoever disturbed him but in at the same time Obi-Wan had a clear 'shot'.

Obi-Wan slightly raised his head above the edge and then he saw them, a tall man and a bit shorter woman wearing heavy battle armor with insignia armed with blasters and blades.

„Mandalorians? That's just my luck. What are they even doing here I wonder," Obi-Wan mumbled under his breath surprised. „If they are here it means they have a base on this planet and know the jungle but I doubt I will be able to reason with them. Sadly they won't miss a chance to fight a Jedi. Maybe if I convince them that I am a target too valuable to kill so I can get with them out of this jungle. Or that I'm not a worthy foe, which I think they'll not find it likely."

He unfortunately didn't have the time to think the whole situation through before he was interrupted.

„Didn't expect anyone to survive that crash, not even a Jedi," said a deep voice behind Obi-Wan. The called turned around to face another two Mandalorian warriors and was utterly fazed by the sight, but not by the the man in orange and black armor or the woman in blue and red. The speaking Mandalorian was holding in his left hand Obi-Wan's _lightsaber_. _The same_ lightsaber Obi-Wan thought he had on him this whole time and _the same_ lightsaber he didn't bother to check in the last one and a half day.

„Didn't know your kind goes anywhere without this. Too bad now, 'cause without it you're-"

„I surrender." Obi-Wan quickly yet calmly interrrupted him and raised his hands above his head.

„You surrender?" the Mandalorian was clearly surprised and didn't hide it one bit. „OK, I didn't expect that to be so easy, but I won't argue," he waved at his collegue. And she just, flexing her right arm, walked up to the Jedi still holding his hands up and she knocked him out with a single punch to his temple.

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 **EDIT: MORE CHANGES! EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE NOW! But seriously, this was a mess and now it's hopefully better and more sane and believable.**


	3. Camp Introductions - Chapter 3

Obi-Wan opened his eyes waking up from his unconsciousness and looked around him. He was in what seemed to be a temporary Mandalorian camp.

„Ah, with us again, I see," said the man from before standing in front of him with a wicked chuckle. „When I first saw you I didn't recognize you 'cause I don't know how you looked like but my 'associates' told me that you are not _just_ a Jedi, you are _**Obi-Wan Kenobi**_ _, The Negotiator,_ _Master Jedi_ in fact _._ " he said with obviously obvious fake respect towards the Jedi. „Pleasure." Obi-Wan replied simply with a slight bow of his head.

„You can call me _Riugal_ if you care, and this," he exclaimed waving his hand towards the rest of the Mandalorians behind him, „is clan _Onard._ " In unison at least thirty warriors bashed butts of their guns twice to make as much noise as possible and with much success as the bangs were truly deafening. The only ones that didn't participate in this response was the duo of Riugal and his female companion who both seemed to have some sort of leading roles in the community. Then everyone went on about their own bussiness.

While he was left alone cuffed to a pole, Obi-Wan now had finally some time to properly inspect his captors. Riugal was now without his helmet and on his face were visible probably some originally Republic markings or tattoos. On his back was his blaster rifle, similar to the scatterguns Jawas use. The unnamed closemouthed woman had on her belt a blaster which looked like an old collectable vintage revolver with a wooden handle and a metal barrel. She also had a short katana-like sword on her back always ready to strike incase Obi-Wan decided to do something unwise. The other Mandalorians were equipped with a mix of variously colored sets of armors and with wide range of weapons from long-swords to slug pistols and sniper rifles. Although most of them had their helmets unequipped, they were always cautious and ready to fight.

After few hours of waiting and doing nothing Obi-Wan has been suddenly brought back to reality by someone untying him from the pole. "Come on, Jedi. Boss wants to see you so we better not let them wait," said the tall Mandalorian the Jedi remembered from before. Obi-Wan decided that resistance was of no use so he complied and let himself be lead into the biggest and most important-looking tent in the camp. Riugal was standing inside with his trusty companion and gestured Obi-Wan to sit on the carpet and the guard left right away. It was the kind sometimes used on desert planets by the natives there, apparently adopted by the Mandalorians and quite comfortable from what Obi-Wan could tell sitting on it.

„I will leave you two alone now, I'm sure you have lot to talk about," Riugal said with a grin and left the tent. Obi-Wan stood up, surprised, not knowing what is really happening. He looked at the woman confused.

She raised her helmet and he raised his eyebrow. „A _Chiss_?"

„Don't act so surprised, it isn't unusual to see someone like me here," she said, sounding even a little bit mocking. Her voice was a little low but not entirely unpleasant.

"It is quite unusual to see a Chiss _woman_ leading a Mandalorian outpost, even in the middle of nowhere. I have to say I am more interested why do you keep this charade on with your friend Riugal. It's rather obvious you aren't a simple companion or bodyguard."

„It's a long story you won't be hearing. And I don't make myself known 'cause I don't really like talking to a lot of foreigners and Riugal is better at managing the front page of the clan anyway."

„I sense you are a very proud woman." Obi-Wan even caught himself smiling on his remark.

„Don't push your luck Jedi, if you want to see your beloved Republic again, you shouldn't waste it." She didn't look like she enjoyed the sarcasm.

„There is only Force. I am one with the Force. The Force is with me." This made the Chiss visibly cringe. "What is your name? I hope I'll be able to pronounce it, chiss names are notorious for their unpronounceability," he asked with genuine interest.

„It's Mria'trag'caigauon."

„Hmmm, Mria'trag'caigauon, interesting and definitely impractical," Obi-Wan said without stuttering.

„The people that don't call me _The Protector_ , call me Trage but please, call me with my full name. The joy of hearing it is immense," Trage returned the sarcasm.

„It will be my pleasure, _Protector,_ " said Obi-Wan with courtesy and bowed his head.

„Now to the point. Because you surrendered by yourself, you probably won't resist the transport to a spaceport. There we'll send a message with our terms of your release to Republic command, we will receive the ransom and you'll be on your merry way. Simple as that."

„That sounds fair," agreed Obi-Wan. „And what exactly am I supposed to do here? Just sit and meditate?"

„Do as you wish. If you help around, the journey will be more bearable for all of us. Now go, you'll sleep outside and get your own food. We don't want a useless hungry Jedi on our hands. You need to take care of yourself _by yourself_."

 _As the days of traveling went by, Obi-Wan became more acquainted with the camp and the Mandalorians in it. He learned a handful of useful tricks and skills from observing the happenings around. Most of the Mandalorians were quite disturbed and alarmed when Obi-Wan went snooping around the camp but after all the days they have already tolerated him he was just a little annoying. He wasn't only watching, he was also interested in the Mandalorian way of life and their craft that contained parts of so many cultures, religions and_ _convictions. After hour of talking to everyone in the camp he started to remember most of the regulars and_ _commanders by their names and by their unusual distinctive armor._

 _After five days of traveling the camp grew uneasy as one of the patrols didn't come back from their watch around the camp to make sure there is no danger in the vicinity. Other three went to look for them but without much luck and returned only with a trashed helmet of one of them and with bad news._

„We only found this helmet scrap and some limbs thrown around the place. It was pretty brutal. Only some of the wildlife could be so efficient to take on our men. Problably a boma or a maalraas, maybe even a zakkeg. Either it is, we have big problem. We should quickly either find it and kill it or move and be on the lookout for it. Otherwise it will terrorize us without stopping for a break." One of the search group members handed Trage the bloody helmet and along the others left the tent.

„Great, another problem. As is we didn't have enough of them. Riugal, take Vyssz and Xoreah and find whatever the thing is and kill it. We'll fortify the camp and wait here for a few days until you return, preferably successful." Trage was visibly corcerned.

„Sure thing. We'll propably need more people though, almost none of local monstrosities are loners, always in packs. Just zakkegs and it can take care of itself by itself just fine. Put night guards in bigger groups and keep more people awake and prepared to defend, these animals are unpredictable and they don't fear us like more sensible humans would do."

„Just look around the camp for volunteers, I'm sure you'll find some. There are always people, who want to get themselves killed in a fight," Trage commented and sent Riugal to prepare.

Riugal called a meeting in the middle of the camp and began to announce the news. „Listen up everybody! I'm making a small group to take our revenge for our fallen brothers on the savage beast roaming in the jungle. **We're Mandalorians! They can't mess with us, whatever they are. They can be the rulers of this jungle but we bow to no one in this galaxy! NO ONE!** We'll get our revenge but right now I need few volunteers to help me. Vissz, Xoreah and..." Immediately after all of the Mandos rushed towards Riugal and everyone started to shout and volunteer. „Alright, people. Only so many can come with us. I'll take you three and that's the end of the discussion!" The three chosen ones were cheering while the others were just silently mumbling words of disappointment to themselves and the camp slowly fell back into its quiet racket.

„I also volunteer!" Everyone turned surprised towards Obi-Wan, who loudly expressed his statement and who was standing on the side without attracting any attention to himself so far.

„You volunteer?" Riugal shook his head as everyone else was looking dumbfounded even with their helmets on. „You are full of surprises, Jedi. And with what exactly do you intend to fight with? If we let you go with us, to say."

„With my wits and humor of course. And with my lightsaber that I will _borrow_." Obi-Wan looked satisfied with himself and extended his arm and opened his hand as a gesture of bidding.

„Just give it to him, if he wants to die, he can come with you. Maybe he'll prove useful," shouted Trage from her tent. „Fine," Riugal, looking quite unwilling, detached the lightsaber from his belt and threw it over to Obi-Wan, „but I'll be watching you. We're leaving in an hour, so be ready and _don't try anything_."

 _After just short of an hour the hunting party had gathered and prepared for the expedition to find the killer beasts and dispatch them._

„Alright, we are ready to go. We're leaving through the jungle in the west." The group consisting of Riugal, Vissz, Xoreah, three other Mandalorians and a Jedi went on their way to undergo an interesting adventure.

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 **EDIT: WOW! So much more, such more sense, too good. Added a surprisingly big part so this chapter doesn't seem so empty and garbage. Also realizing that when I write it and post it I actually HAVE to check it afterwards to fix it. :D**


	4. Tilting the Balance - Chapter 4

_The company of renegades and a Jedi had been searching the jungle for two days now without any success so far but they're not losing hope._

Obi-Wan first noticed Xoreah talk as she caught up to Riugal and started speaking with him. „This is pointless. We need to think of another tactic or we'll be stuck here chasing shadows and phantoms all week. It's obvious that just looking for them isn't gonna work because we haven't found them yet."

„What are you suggesting?" „Bait." „Bait?" Riugal was surprised by Xoreah's idea but after some thought he didn't find it entirely ilogical.

„Yes, bait. We just stick someone out in the jungle _alone_ and wait. I actually have already picked someone to be our little lamb. He will lure the beasts by screaming like a weak prey and they will come rushing to us. It's a flawless plan," Xoreah added with an evil grin.

„I suppose by 'he' you mean our Jedi _friend._ He can propably take care of himself if we arrive a bit _late._ Heh. Alright, we'll make needed preparations and put this plan into action. Although I cannot imagine him screaming like a little girl even though I would very much like to."

Riugal stoped the expedition and ordered them to make a small stationary camp. Then he called Obi-Wan to himself. „Jedi, you wil have a very delicate mission to accomplish. You'll stay here in the camp we made and take care of our things while everyone else goes on a lookout for the beasts. I trust you will guard them with your life and nothing bad happens to them. We'll be back. Sometime," Riugal added with a sly smirk. After the camp was built, everyone armed themselves and left the camp in groups of three warriors without saying another word.

Obi-Wan was left alone and curious in a small opening in a dense jungle. He wondered what exactly is his task but decided not to overthink it much and got comfortable on the pile of mandalorian equipment.

As minutes went by his mind wandered off to other realms and galaxies, his eyes closed and his cautiousness lowered. Oblivious to the jungle and its dangers he dozed off, lulled by the sounds of the wild nature. After about half an hour of rest a strange noise that seemed so out of place started to echo troughout the jungle and all around the camp. It was getting louder by the second. Obi-Wan abruptly woke up from his slumber confused but instinctively began analyzing the surroundings. Now his still half-asleep senses were overwhelmed by the noise as he tried to determine its source. The siren-like sound was coming from three places on the outskirts of the camp. It was very high-pitched and penetrating, guaranteeing to give camp's position away and to give him a headache.

Obi-Wan tried to find and deactivate these devices one by one but he only got around to destroying the second when he heard a ruckus in the jungle. „I feel the danger approaching. Hmmm, probably one beast, on all fours and pretty big. Maybe I'll finally have some fun on this planet. If it thinks it's going to have me for a snack it might just get a really sharp toothpick up its mouth." He grinned to himself and readied for a ferocious battle. One man, one toothpick, one roar, one mouth to pick.

The beast rushed out of the jungle from the left and immediately tried to headbutt Obi-Wan. He dodged the attack swiftly and the beast bashed its head into a tree with an explosion of greenery instead. It quickly got up and prepared for another attack. „It appears that this is quite the dangerous monster. Heavy armored but fast nonetheless. And if it killed the patrols it is very deadly indeed." The predator not minding his remarks charged and this time Obi-Wan tried to jump over it but ended up landing on its spiky back. The bumpy ride took him around the camp and then leaping into dense jungle. After emerging in a clearing the Jedi seized the opportunity, ignited his weapon and jabbed it into the beast's neck. Unfortunately it went in just to a third of its lenght and it didn't seem to injure the beast much as it only gave of a slight growl. In the meantime the creature struggled to get the parasite off its back by running through the camp and the jungle, running into trees and rocks. One particularly strong bash to the side flinged Obi-Wan off into a bush of lianas with his lightsaber still in his hand. He quickly stood up and got ready for another relentless attack. Relaxed in his pose he awaited the beast's next assault sure in his abilities. As if the time slowed down, the beast's head and torso ran against Obi-Wan's reflexes in a race of survival and the winner would take it all, a life. The animal is lying on the ground with a gash from its mouth to the belly and intestines are gushing out along with lots of blood and other body fluids. Obi-Wan is on his knees next to the corpse breathing heavily and holding his bloody arm. He himself didn't escape without a scratch. A good chunk of his left arm was thrashed off and the wound was bleeding violently. He grabbed a chunk of creepers and tied a knot above the wound to stop himself from bleeding out. After finishing he took a deep breath, got on his feet and started to make his way back to the camp limping a little.

In the meantime the Mandalorians hidden around the camp waiting for the beast to arrive heard the ruckus and quietly came towards it. In front of them a glorious battle emerged. None of them dared to interfere and just stayed hidden. They stared at the Jedi's fight and didn't want to get in the way. After the monster was killed and Obi-Wan left the scene with some difficulty, the Mandalorians finally came out and examined the carcass.

„It really _is_ a zakkeg!? What...How...did he?" „Impressive!" reacted Vissz to Xoreah's bewilderment.

„Definitely deserves some recognition but now with this situation solved it is probably time to return and report our or _his_ success back in the main camp," decided Riugal and gave orders to pack and prepare for the return.

Obi-Wan was sitting on the pile of equipment and waiting for others. When they came and seemed surprised, he raised his eyebrow and asked where they were all this time. „Just scanning the surroundings, making sure there's nothing to worry about. Definitely after you killed that zakkeg." „A zakkeg? I didn't really have time to examine it whilst fighting it. It did put up quite a fight. Sadly I am mildly injured and in need of some medical attention if you are to give me some."

 _The group gathered around the equipment, packed it and got on their way back to report._

„Finished?" asked Trage the incoming Mandalorians. „Ask him," said Xoreah and pointed at Obi-Wan,"He did all the work for us. He deprived us of the honor!" She didn't seem one bit happy about it.

„What are you talking about?" asked the leader. „He came across a zakkeg when he was in the camp and managed to defeat it," explained Riugal, „ _by himself_."

„Don't forget to mention that you used me as a bait and left me there to fight the beast even though you were around and could have helped. Instead of showing off can someone patch me up? Please? Someone?" Obi-Wan left for the camp medic and left the others to their discussion. „That means we can move on when this is taken care of. You could show some gratitude, probably saved us some losses and made your job easier," Trage commented, „Tell your men to prepare. We are leaving tomorrow morning and don't leave a trace behind."

* * *

 _Meanwhile far, far away a separate unit was sent out to find the missing Jedi Master Kenobi. Even after a full week without any success, no one started to lose hope, trying their best to find him. Little did they know that he would make himself known sooner than they might expected. The search continued with agents searching every spaceport and every cantina in it. During this dire time Chancellor has beem abducted by the Separatists and Anakin was sent to the rescue. He fought his way to the flagship through hordes of vulture droids and got on board. There Count Dooku was patiently waiting for him, ready to duel. After a vicious fight Anakin bested the Sith and had him right where he wanted. Defeated Count was kneeling before the Jedi unarmed (heh) and defenseless._

„Kill him, Anakin," commanded the Chancellor, still shackled to the throne. Anakin struggled to kill the helpless Sith. „Do it!" ordered Palpatine again and this time the Jedi Knight complied. He cut Dooku's head clean off and finally freed the captive. The duo then made their way towards the hangar when a force field locked around them. From all around droids emerged and without resistance the both men, now accompanied by Anakin's trusty droid, let themselves be lead to the bridge, where general Grievous was already waiting. After an essential distraction from R2-D2, Anakin managed to get back his confiscated lightsaber and fight off several magna guards as well as the droid general. Grievous fought the Jedi but when he was overwhelmed, he escaped through the window, severely damaging the bridge. Now the only chance for survival was to land the Separatist cruiser on the nearby planet.

 _After General Skywalker successfuly landed the giant spacecraft at the spaceport, Chancellor was taken to safety. Padmé revealed to Anakin that she is pregnant but instead of happiness his worries grew. As a reward for his deeds Palpatine felt the need to place Skywalker on the Jedi Council as his representative. The Jedi Masters accepted but unfortunately for Anakin the Council members didn't grant him the rank of Master and the rash Jedi took it quite badly. Trying to prove his prowess and competence he set out to find and capture the droid general Grievous. Luckily for him the newly found intel indicated the villain's position on the planet of Utapau._

„You have nowhere to run, Grievous! I'll bring you to justice as I did with Dooku!" exclaimed Anakin as he jumped down from the scaffoldings and faced the general. „You might have killed my master but the apprentice exceedes the teacher. I won't be defeated so easily! And you will fall as many have before you!" said the general menacingly. They engaged in a fierce lightsaber duel and raced throughout the compound. Anakin got the upper hand on a landing platform and there he ended Grievous' reign as a Separatist leader. All other present Separatist leaders managed to escape during the panic caused by the fight and fled to some safer Separatist-aligned planets.

 _With the successful return of Skywalker to Coruscant, the Senate rejoiced and praised the Jedi's achievements. The High Council was content with Skywalker and finally granted him the desired rank of Master. Nevertheless the influence of the Chancellor did not wither away as Anakin's worries about Padmé deepened. Palpatine's trust in his protégé made him reveal his identity as a powerful Sith Lord. Unexpectedly the young Jedi turned to the Council and disclosed the Chancellor's secret. With only a few of the member present, they dispatched a strike team consisting of Ki-Adi-Mundi, Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin to go and arrest the Sith._

„In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you are under arrest, Chancellor," said calmly Master Mundi and the Jedi lighted their lightsabers.

Knowing this isn't going to end in his favor without him taking the initiative Palpatine exclaimed: „It's treason then!", ignited his own red lightsaber and without a moment to spare he attacked. Taken aback by his immediate reaction the Jedi Masters were mercilessly slayed one by one. Master Mundi managed to corner the dangerous Sith but the incoming Anakin interfered to defend the seemingly powerless chancellor and put a swift end to the hopes of the Republic by striking down the distracted Jedi.

Bewildered Anakin was now kneeling, deeply regretting his acts and slowly succubing to the the Dark side. „What have I done?!" Victorious Palpatine regained some composure and walked over to the fallen Jedi and with a smirk bestowed him the title of Lord Vader.

„First, I want you to go to the Jedi Temple. We will catch them off guard. Do what must be done! Do not hesitate, show no mercy. Only then will you be strong enough with the Dark side to save Padmé. The other Jedi's betrayal will be dealt with. Then go to the Mustafar system and wipe out the Separatist leaders there. Once more the Sith will rule the galaxy! And we shall have peace." Palpatine laughed screechingly and gesture his new apprentice to rise. After Anakin left to finish what he started Palpatine treaded towards the console and put on a holocall.

„Commander Cody, the time has come. **Execute Order 66!"**

„Yes, my lord," answered the clone and ended the holocall.

* * *

 **Author's note: Sorry it took so long, it just takes a long time :P. Big chunk of this chapter is a slightly modified version of The Revenge of the Sith, something similar is going to be at the beginning of the next one too. And I simplified it because I didn't want to just rewrite the TRotS script. But on the other hand it was important to write the story so you know what is happening elsewhere in the universe.**


	5. Silence - Chapter 5

_The Mandalorians were just a day away from the nearest spaceport and were rushing to get finally rid of the always witty and quite often annoying Jedi. Making their lives miserable by humoring the clan was the one pleasure he could enjoy without being threatened with violence. His humor left him after a dreadful night following the frightful_ Order 66.

Obi-Wan was mumbling to himself and violently shaking his whole body in his sleep as if he had a terrible nightmare. But it was much worse than that. The terror he felt was indescribable. The great disturbance in the force was tremendous as thousands and thousands of Jedi were taken down. Too often by their long-term collaborators and old friends, their clone commandos. So few were left and now on the run from the newly-formed Galactic Empire, which was relentlessly hunting the remaining refugees and outcasts. All this was at the time unknown to our hero. He only felt the forcefully broken Force-bonds between him and his friends and fellow Jedi.

He woke up sweating and instinctively reaching for his lightsaber, which obviously wasn't there. Confused he stumbled out of his small prisoner tent and began to wander around the night camp. Few tents away he heared some ruckus and people talking, fire scorching. He decided to avoid them, not being in the mood for basically anything other than silently contemplating his situation and with the painful Force-waves rummaging through his mind. He went on into more peaceful jungle surrounding the camp, where only the sounds of night-wildlife could be heard. He sat down on a fallen half-rotten tree engulfed in greenery and was finally left alone to his thoughts. Obi-Wan looked up but couldn't see the sky through the dense treetops. From time to time something zoomed across his view looking for prey. He lay on the trunk, closed his eyes and got lost in his mind.

After few minutes of relaxing he heard a noise somewhere above him. Obi-Wan opened his eyes looking upwards and scanned the suspicious treetop. At first sight nothing troublesome was showing but not even the tiny red glare showing through the dark green leaves could escape the trained Jedi's senses. He sent out a weak wave of Force to move through the patch and startle the silent intruder. To his surprise in the shadows was hiding more of a silent guardian then a night predator.

„What are you doing under my tree, Jedi? There are more than enough trees for you to fall asleep under. Even though I do not want to disturb your stay here, I would appreciate some privacy."

„If you wanted to be alone you would have adressed my invasion sooner. Hiding in the trees and scaring honest travelers is rather despicable and you should answer for your action," he said with a sly smirk curious about her reaction. She took off her blue helmet with the red visor and stared down at him with her shiny red eyes through the dark hair surrounding her face.

„General Kenobi, you are a bold one. One day that attitude of yours will get you hurt. Badly hurt." After a short silence the Mando spoke up again. „Lately you've been really getting on my nerves. You should be more respectful and grateful. You are quite lucky to end up being treated like this."

„I sure am. Stayed in much harsher conditions throughout my years as an unwelcomed guest. This is no Coruscant but it suits my needs quite nicely. I am grateful if that's what you want to hear."

„The majority of Mandlorians don't share my opinion on letting you live. They have a long-lasting rivalry with the Jedi that I don't want to be a part of. It seemed like a waste of everyone's time and resources, not to mention the losses. And only since you wouldn't put up a honorable fight they didn't have a problem with selling you back like a mere slave they take you as now. Be glad of it otherwise you'll be executed without a second thought. Without my help you'd be already six feet under."

„Well, I certainly appreciate your input that made me not dead but I think the ransom will make up for it sufficiently. The Republic values me more than I value myself, you definitely won't return home empty handed. But I am still curious why are you here?" Obi-Wan asked. Instead of answering Trage climbed down from the treetop and seated herself next to him on a higher part of the trunk.

„When I was a little kid still living with my parents, some colourful armored men and women came into our shelter and took me away. I don't know what happened to my parents, if they survived or where they are now. I was too young to remember my home planet or city and the Mandalorians that took me wouldn't tell me. I stopped communicating with these _kid_ nappers years and years ago, didn't want anything to do with them. Now I care for this group of misfits and dumbasses, trying to find out the whereabouts of my family but had no luck so far. It's been a long journey for me but I'm not giving up, not yet."

„I was asking about now here in the jungle talking to me," Obi-Wan smiled and looked her way. Her features sudenly hardened and a frown made its way onto her chiseled face.

„I appreciated that outpour of emotions, worry not. It was just not exactly what I expected from a seasoned warrior of your might. No need to become closed of again from the outside world. The light coming out of your darkness shone brightly and in various colours of sentiment and humility. That definitely sounded more poetic then I intended it to, I'm sorry if that was too light-hearted for you hardened soul. Didn't mean to make the great warrior feel uncomfortable."

Trage seemed mainly confused by this strange outburst of Obi-Wan's views on her own life story. For a moment they just sat there looking at each other and looking immediately away, not knowing what to do or what will happen next. After a few seconds, when only the tranquil cricketing of the jungle inhabitants was heard, Trage stood up on the trunk, picked up her helmet and put it back on.

„It's time we got back, we still need to be on the lookout and it isn't safe just to wander around the jungle in the middle of the night like this. Keep your form, you've got an interesting day ahead of you as well as we do. Be ready, we're leaving before the midday heat."

He waited for her to leave and got up himself.

„Strange, I don't know how will this end up. It is beyond me in my current state of mind." He added a little remark out loud. He checked his injury from his jungle bait-related encounter few days ago. It was just partially healed but luckily didn't look contaminated, so he decided not to overdo it much. With his body still tired and in need of rest, even with his mind now more reconciliated, he stumbled back across the camp into his own tent. He fell into deep slumber as soon as he hit the ground and undisturbed slept until sunrise.

When he woke up everyone was already almost done with clearing the camp and leaving for the road. Without a word he quickly started to pack the tent and the sleeping bag. In the previous days he also received a travel backpack to carry all his temporary belongings in the Mandalorian care. In a couple of minutes he was ready to set out and joined the leaving group. He didn't see Trage or Riugal or any other familiar faces anywhere but didn't make much of it. With a long way ahead of him that day he clenched his teeth through the pain in his arm and went on his way towards the spaceport.

 _Late afternoon the Mando convoy arrived to the transport station from where Obi-Wan was supposed to be transfered further. Here the message was to be sent to the Republic and the exchange itself would happen in the city of Iziz on Dxun's mother planet Onderon. Without many complications the crew sold their ill-gotten goods from the spaceship wreckage and jungle goods taken along the way. Most of the mercenaries took off somewhere else and only Trage with Riugal, Vissz and Xoreah decided to oversee the money-jedi swap. With the vicinity of civilization the Jedi was once again stripped of his trusted weapon and forced to give it up._

„I haven't made any escape attempts the whole time and _now_ you want it back? What is the difference now that we're here? I'm not any more dangerous or devious sudenly. And I honestly want an answer to that question." Obi-Wan asked.

„That was two questions and that makes me not want to answer either. Now you can actualy _try_ to escape and a lighsaber would certainly help you with your _attempts_. After we see the money, you'll maybe see your trinket." Riugal had just enough of the Jedi's wits and didn't spare Obi-Wan the mocking tone.

„This lighsaber is my life. I don't like anyone not showing the respect it deserves," he said with a straight face. „So please restrain from any other remarks, thank you," he added and looked at Riugal with a big smile on his face.

„Whatever..." Riugal shook his head and signaled the group to get going to the small hangar, where a tiny transport was waiting for their arrival.

 _When they reached the building that resembled a big shed Riugal nodded towards the small crew fooling around near the entrance. One of them got up, entered a code into his handheld device and the hangar doors started to slowly open. Without a word they all got in the spacecraft and sat down next to eachother. The shuttle took off and flew out through the gate. During the flight everybody would rather be silent and even always witty Obi-Wan didn't have anything to say. But sudenly his Jedi senses noticed a slight whisper._

„While we'll be in Iziz we need to contact a potential candidate to fill up our missing crew. He looked promising and he'll be definitely useful with our current numbers running low. You'll go pick him up in the cantina and in the meantime Riugal and I will collect the ransom for the Jedi. We'll meet back by the shuttle and head back to Dxun immediately. Get this thing done as fast as possible, we still have things to do." Trage finished whispering this new information to Vissz and Xoreah. Then she quieted down and gave Obi-Wan a brief glance.

 _This unusual adventure was heading to a swift end and he didn't know if that was a good thing. Even though the Mandalorians were going to sell him back to the Republic and he'll be back with his own kind, he felt something approaching. Something dark and sinister, something like no one has ever seen before. And as his return to republic hands drew near the feeling grew more and more unsettling. With unpleasant thoughts about the final exchange and a long flight ahead of him, he closed his eyes and fell asleep._


End file.
